Means for feeding powdered material.



C. L. KENNICOTT.

MEANS FOR FEEDING POWDERED MATERIAL.

APPLICATIOH/FILED NOV. 27. 1914.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

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CAS$ I. KENNICOTT, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE KENNICOT'I COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINUIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR FEEDING FOIVDERED MATERIAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Application fi1ed November 27, 1914. Serial No. 874,189,

Chicago Heights, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful- Improvement in Means for Feeding Powdered Material, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for feeding powdered material.

The invention isparticularlydesigned for use in connection with chemical treating operations in which it is necessary to feed, either continuously or intermittently, determined amounts of dry powdered chemicals from a bulk receptacle or hopper.

The object of my invention is to provide such feeding means which will be simple, strong and durable in construction and reliable in operation.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description of a specific form of the invention which Ihave designed to be applied in the art of water softening, and for the purpose of feeding dry powdered chemicals,'such as lime and soda-ash, to a water-treating apparatus. Such an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a hopper and feeding mechanism adapted for use in connection with a water-softener, thelower end of the hopper and parts of the feeding mechanism being shown in section; Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of the cutting mechanism of my feeder, and Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, numeral 10 designates a vertical cylindrical hopper adapted to contain a sup ply of the material to be fed. The hopper is provided at its upper end with aispider 11 carrying two bearings 12 through which eX- tends a vertical shaft 13, the portion of the shaft 13 between the two bearings beingprovided with a bevel gear 14 meshing with a driving bevel pinion 14 carried by a shaft 1-1- journaled in the spider casting and driven from some suitable power source, not shown. The lower end of the hopper 10is formed as a cone-frustum 15 which discharges into a central spout 16 which I have shown as being circular in cross-section, the lower end of the spout being concaved to fit the cylindrical surface of a feeding roller 17. The feeding roller 17 is driven, in the direction indicated by the arrow 17, by some suitable means, not shown, through a shaft 18, and may be provided with end-flanges 19. The face 20 of the spout 16 preferably lies approximately in a vertical plane passing through the axis of the feeding roller, and

in this face of the spout is cut the feed aperture 21. For controlling the feed aperture I provide a vertically movable gate 22 which telescopes the spout 16 and is held in any adjusted position by a regulating lever 23 fulcrumed at 2st and secured to the gate by a pinand-slot connection 25.

The depending portion of the shaft 13 is provided with four radial arms 28, 28, 29 and 29. These arms are detachably mounted on the shaft 13 by hub-bosses 30 secured to the shaft as by set-screws 32. As best shown in Fig. 2, the arms are relatively thin, the requisite strength being provided by increasing their width, and the arms 28,

29 and 29 are preferably formed with knifeedges as at 31. The arm 29 is bent down wardly at an angle so that its outer end 33 .may lie adjacent to the lower end of the cone-frustum 15, while the hub portion 31 lies well above the plane of the constricted lower end of the conefrustum. Extending between the free ends of the arms 28, 28, 29 and 29 and lying parallel to and closely adjacent the surface of the hopper, cone-frus tum and spout, is the cutting-wire 34; of my invention. This wire is preferably as thin as possible, consistent with the strength requisite for the functions it must perform, and is stretched taut between the free ends of the arms, being secured'thereto by lacing through suitable apertures in the arms, as shown in the drawing, or by any suitable means.

The operation of the feeding mechanism 1 have described above is as follows: It being assumed that the hopper 10 has been filled with a dry material, such as lime, which is to be fed from the aperture 20 of the spout,

the power will be applied to the feed-roll shaft 18 to cause the same torevolve inthe direction indicated by the arrow, and the lime contained with the lower end of the spout and resting upon the upper surface of the feed roller will be carried outwardly in a stream,the thickness of which is regulated by the-adjustment of the gate 22. As the lime is removed from the lower endof the spout there should be a gravity flow downwardly through the hopper 10, cone-frustum 15 and spout 16. I find in practice, however, that there is a tendency for the lime orother. dry material being fed to adhere to the surfaces of the hopper, and especially the lower conical end thereof. The

result of this tendency is that the lime directly above the spout 16 may feed downwardly to a certain extent and create a cavity with the usefulness of the mechanism in arts in'which it in necessary to secure exact-proportiomrg. It therefore becomes 1mperative to provide a means for continuously feeding the material downwardly so that the spout 16 will always be full. So long as this condition is maintained the feed roller 17 and gate 22 may be depended upon to accurately and reliably feed out the mate rial. It is a specific object of my invention 7 to provide a means for accomplishing this end, and with that in view I have provided the cutting-wire 34. The operation of the apparatus is now as follows: The shaft 14:

- being rotated by some suitable power source,

the cutting-wire 34 moves around the hopper, cone-frustum, and spout, closely adjacent to the surfaces thereof. and positively cuts loose the material from the walls. There is therefore no possibility of any cavern or hole forming in the center of the mass of material. as, when out free from the surrounding surfaces, the material behaves as a fluid and feeds downwardly in a conthrough the mass of material within the hopper are the arms 28, 29 and 29 and the cutting-wire 34 (the arm 28 lying above the normal'level of the material within the hopper). The resistance of the cutting-wire is very small since the wire, while serving perfectly to cut the material free from the walls,

thin in sectionand are in addition provided with knife edges, so that the total power required to effectively cut loose the material from the walls and in addition divide the mass at the vertical planes of the arms and insure a constant downward flow thereof, is very small. I

While I have shown and described in considerable detail a specific embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that this showing and description is illustrative only, and that I do not regard my invention as limited to the details of construction specifled, except in so far as such limitations are included Within the terms of the following claims in which it ismy intention to claim all patentable novelty inherent in the invention as broadly as the prior art will permit.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a receptacle having a downwardly-sloping conical bottom and a central outletspout leading therefrom, of a shaft mounted axially within said receptacle, radial arms carried by the shaft, and a cutting wire stretched taut between the arms and lying parallel to and adjacent the inner surface of the receptacle, for the purpose set forth. s i

2. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination with a receptacle having a downwardly-sloping conical bottom and a central outlet spout leading therefrom, of a shaft mounted axially within the receptacle and extending through the conical bottom and the outlet spout, radial arms carried by said shaft, and a cutting wire stretched taut between the arms and lying parallel to and adjacent the inner surfaces of the receptacle, the bottom, and the outlet spout, for the purpose set forth.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a receptacle having an outlet opening in the lower end thereof, and adapted to discharge material by gravity, a shaft mounted centrally within the receptacle in line with'the general direction of motion of the material therein, and a cutting Wire stretched taut between supports carried by the said shaft and adapted on the rota tion of the shaft to cut the material in a line substantially parallel to the general direction of movement of the material.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a receptacle having a downwardly-sloping conical bottom and a central outlet spout leading therefrom, a shaft mounted axially within the receptacle and passing through the said conical bottom ed in operative relation to the discharge out and outlet spout, radial arms carried by the let of the spout, and means for simultane shaft, a cutting Wire stretched taut between ously driving the feeding surface.

the arms and lying parallel to and adjacent CASS L. KENNICOTT. the inner surfaces of the receptacle, the bot- In presence of tom and the outlet spout, means for driving HARLEY C. ALGER,

the shaft, a movable feeding surface mount- C. B. BRUN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

